1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information retrieval apparatus and method, and in particular to an information retrieval apparatus and method which provide a user interface appropriate for conveying the user's intention more directly.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventionally known electronic device for managing a schedule is, for example, an electronic diary. An electronic diary provides information related to the user's schedule which is stored therein hierarchically, responsive to an instruction of the user.
With reference to FIGS. 17 through 22, displays sequentially obtained in a conventional electronic diary will be described.
FIG. 17 shows a monthly calendar displayed on the screen of the conventional electronic diary. In this example, the calendar of August, 1995 is displayed. If the user needs to check his schedule on Aug. 11, 1995, the user presses "11" in the calendar twice with an input pen to cause a table shown in FIG. 18 to be displayed on a screen of the conventional electronic diary.
The table in FIG. 18 shows the user's schedule on Aug. 11, 1995. If an excessive number of items are scheduled for a certain day to be shown on one display, the remaining items can be scrolled through using a down scroll arrow or the like.
If the user needs to check his free time on Aug. 11, 1995, the user selects a "daily graph" in FIG. 18 using the input pen to cause a line graph shown in FIG. 19 to be displayed on the screen.
In the line graph in FIG. 19, the hatched areas represent time slots in which some items are scheduled, and the blank areas represent free time slots.
If the user needs to check his schedule of the same day again, the user selects the "daily table" with the input pen to cause the table shown in FIG. 18 to be displayed again on the screen.
If the user needs to check the details of any particular scheduled item, for example, the product meeting, the user selects the corresponding box in FIG. 18 with the input pen to cause the table shown in FIG. 20 to be displayed on the screen. FIG. 20 shows the details of the product meeting.
Another conventional electronic diary can display a weekly schedule as shown in FIG. 21 or free time on a weekly basis as shown in FIG. 22.
In the above-described conventional electronic devices, only one type of display is obtained on the screen when the user inputs one type of instruction, in general. In such devices, the intention of the user is conveyed to the electronic device in discrete units for each display but not conveyed sequentially.